[AusNOG] Screw the NBN, says TPG: We'll do our own FTTB

[Robert Hudson]

On 17 September 2013 21:27, Paul Brooks <pbrooks-ausnog at layer10.com.au>wrote:

>
> This is probably taking it a bit too far Rob - they are legally obligated
> to provide a
> working voice telephone service to almost everywhere. And we are all
> legally obligated
> to subsidise them for the costs to service uneconomic areas through the
> USO - they get
> paid to do the uneconomic bits, they are not a charity.
> Fairness has never been a criteria, or a goal.
>

I understand the USO.  And when it was first developed, it may even have
been sufficient.  These days, given the reliance of the world on Internet
communications, it does not go far enough

>
> > And again - the NBN does *not* cost us (the nation) $37b. Or even $90b
> if you choose
> > to believe Turnbull's build costs. It costs us the interest on those
> amounts, but
> > only until the loans are paid back/bonds mature (and the rates are
> stupidly low)-
> > and then the country owns a modern, high tech infrastructure that will
> drive the
> > nation forward.
> >
>
> This is one argument for "why now", whether or not you believe government
> or private
> interests should do something. If you're ever going to do something big
> and bold (like
> a national NBN, or a major subsea cable), the right time is when interest
> rates are
> stupidly low and debt is cheap to service - and not expected to raise
> significantly
> until you can pay it back. You certainly wouldn't take on that much debt
> when global
> interest rates were 10-15% like they were in the 1980s. (see
> http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2012/01/222-years-of-long-term-interest-rates/
> ).
>

A stronger argument for "why now" IMHO (though one that I do agree does
rely on the support of the financial situation) is the fact that as a
country, we're falling behind the rest of the world in terms of the
availability of decent Internet connectivity, and this is going to cost us
a substantial amount as a nation in the future.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.ausnog.net/pipermail/ausnog/attachments/20130917/33a8019a/attachment.html>